MARA – the unofficial archive of all things Assyrian

International collection preserves Assyrian customs, traditions

This story is part of a larger collection of articles covered during the first annual Assyrian National Policy Conference, held on Thursday, May 17 through Saturday, May 19th in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C. – At the first annual Assyrian National Policy Conference (ANPC) held in Washington, D.C., the Modern Assyrian Research Archive (MARA) discussed all of the work they had accumulated since their founding in 2008: thousands of pictures, physical books, audiocassettes, hundreds of videos, and more than 4,000 digitized books and periodical issues.

The independent initiative, aimed at preserving Assyrian customs and traditions for generations to come, was part of a larger panel during the national conference to discuss the current challenges facing Assyrians today.

“Nations gather their heritage in an archive in part to prove to themselves and to others what they are as nations,” said Hannibal Travis, MARA advisory board member and professor of law at Florida International University.

Undertaking the preservation of historical photos, newspaper clippings and any other documents can be a challenge for a stateless people like the Assyrians. With no formal funding from a specific state, government, or organization, Assyrians are tasked with working with one another internationally to collect items for the foundation.

“As ganan qa ganan [us for ourselves] in practice – MARA allows us to do a macro re-organizational project as the Assyrian people … [and create] a national archive.” said Michael Youash, MARA advocate and PhD candidate at the University of Toronto.

MARA also acts as a medium in showcasing Assyrian history to those who have an interest in learning more about the Assyrians. The institute requests Assyrians everywhere to submit items that may be of value to MARA’s collection. MARA aims to be the unofficial national archive of all things Assyrians.

MARA is not only found online. It also has a presence around the globe, with locations such as the Assyrian Cultural Center in Gothenburg, Sweden, and at Cambridge University’s Faculty of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies.

MARA’s online and physical presence of living Assyrian history allows those in the diaspora to easily access Assyrian culture virtually – a feat that would be impossible in previous centuries.

“What MARA has given us is an understanding of Assyrians trying their hardest, their agency, to insert themselves and help discern and define and establish their future,” Youash said.

Part of the Ashurbanipal Library of the AUA Foundation in Chicago, Illinois. The library was visited by MARA in May 2009 and a selection of material was digitized.

For more information on the MARA Foundation or to contribute to the archive, visit the MARA Foundation online: MARA Foundation

An image of Assyrian poet Ninos Aho, one of thousands of historical images preserved through the foundation.

Be the first to commenton "MARA – the unofficial archive of all things Assyrian"

Chicago, IL – “I never get tired of traveling because I travel for my people and enjoy accomplishing something for my nation. I also love people watching. That’s why I go to the airport an hour earlier, just to sit around and watch everyone and listen to my podcasts. I love people and I get joyful when I hear them laughing. We need more happiness in the world. We don’t see it anymore. Everyone’s head is down, everyone is looking at their phones, everyone is so intense. There is so much conflict in the world, you don’t see anyone laugh anymore. So when I do see those glimpses of joy and happiness, it makes me so happy.”

Dallas, TX – “With motherhood, you first think of all of those happy times of sitting down and playing and going out. But it’s more about giving all of who you are, everything you have, plus more. When you think to yourself, ‘I’ve given everything I have,’ and then they wake up at night one more time and you say, ‘I have to do this again, I have to give more after I’ve already given everything.’ It’s the hardest job and it takes everything out of you, but it’s worth it and you would do it all over again when you see them happy.”

Dallas, TX – “Having grown up in the West, one of the positives is that my girls have the ability to empower themselves. For me, raising girls here is similar to raising boys. I’m going to teach them what I know, whether it’s science, engineering, you name it, it doesn’t make a difference to me their gender. There is no glass ceiling from my perspective, I want them to be as successful as they can be.”

Chicago, IL – “I started vlogging to have a more highly produced version of an archive of my life. This year’s vlog of the Assyrian convention is footage from a lot of different things. It’s both the pool parties and something more in-depth and cultural, so a mix of both. I also did a lot of things that doing a vlog for wouldn’t do justice, like the youth summit. You have to be there for that, it’s not the same to see it, you have to be there and interact with people. One day I’m going to look back and have all of these memories nicely produced of what I did at this convention. I encourage everyone to do it.”

Dallas, TX – “I started playing soccer in my village. It was a reason to get together as Assyrians every week. We would play soccer and then go eat or hang out. I eventually played for the Assyrian club in Urmi. When I moved to San Jose, I helped found the Infinite Sports Association. Now in Dallas, it’s funny that there are a lot of empty soccer fields that you don’t get elsewhere. We used to pay a lot of money to get a couple hours to play on this type of field. In San Jose, for two hours we would pay almost $250 and here in Dallas this field is free with beautiful grass, free goals, everything free.”

Chicago, IL – “I grew up in a bad country and couldn’t talk about anything, even our flag because you were always scared of the government. A lot of people don’t know how this flag is special for people. That’s why we do this in our yard, because we want people to recognize that if we didn’t have this American flag then we wouldn’t be sitting in this house today. People fought for this flag, for this freedom so we can sit here together and talk about being both Assyrian and American. You lose one of your identities if you don’t.”